Artificial insemination apparatus

ABSTRACT

Disposable apparatus to artificially inseminate animals includes ampoule, usually referred to as a straw. Semen is retained in the straw by a heat sealed closure at one end and a deformed resilient ball at the other which acts as both piston and seal. The straw is insertable in a disposable sheath tube after cutting off the heat sealed closure end. No gun is required. Contents of the straw are expelled with a disposable push rod acting on the ball to operate it as a piston. The device has the advantages of greater reliability and prevention of fraud. It reduces cost and eliminates all sterilization of equipment subsequent to original manufacture.

United States Patent 1 Wieder ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION APPARATUS [76]Inventor: Horst K. Wieder, 1207 Riverview Ln., Watertown, Wis. 53094[22] Filed: July 17, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 489,169

[52] US. Cl 128/235; 128/272; 128/218 P [51] Int. Cl. A6lm 37/02; A61d7/02 [58] Field of Search 128/218 P, 218 D, 234-238,

[451 Apr. 15, 1975 2/1974 Harris, Sr 222/386 4/1974 Alter 128/260 [57]ABSTRACT Disposable apparatus to artificially inseminate animalsincludes ampoule, usually referred to as a straw. Semen is retained inthe straw by a heat sealed closure at one end and a deformed resilientball at the other which acts as both piston and seal. The straw isinsertable in a disposable sheath tube after cutting off the heat sealedclosure end. No gun is required. Contents of the straw are expelled witha disposable push rod acting on the ball to operate it as a piston. Thedevice has the advantages of greater reliability and prevention offraud. It reduces cost and eliminates all sterilization of equipmentsubsequent to original manufacture.

7 Claims, 16 Drawing Figures ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION APPARATUS FIELDThis invention relates to artificial insemination apparatus and moreparticularly to such apparatus involving use of a straw of syntheticresinous polymeric material in place of breakable glass ampoules orother containers previously used.

PRIOR ART The device of the invention is an improvement on the followingU.S. Pat. Nos. taken individually or in combination:

The device is particularly an improvement over the disclosure of U.S.Pat. No. 3,507,281 issued Apr. 21, 1970, to R. K. Cassou in that in theinstant device, unlike that of the disclosure, all parts are disposableso that repeated sterilization of certain parts is not necessary in thepresent device as it is with the previously disclosed device.Furthermore, leakage which is common with the seals of the previousdevice is eliminated in the present invention. Furthermore, the instantdevice is less complex, having fewer parts, and having parts ofsubstantially less complexity.

The apparatus disclosed in said patent is widely distributed andgenerally the straws are provided with identical sealing members at eachend. Instead of cutting off merely the end of the straw containing thesealing member at one end, prior to usage. it is not unusual for anoperator to cut the straw in the middle and use each half as if itwerean entire straw. If this is done without the knowledge of the ownerof the animal being inseminated, it may be fraudulent with respect tosaid owner or at least unfair with respect to him because the likelihoodof achieving pregnancy is substantially reduced since the quantityplaced in the straw originally is carefully selected to be of suitablequantity for achieving insemination.

The device of the present invention is furthermore particularly animprovement over the disclosure ofU.S. Pat. No. 3,257,884 in eliminatingleakage past the piston, such leakage having been observed with thepreviously disclosed device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,257,884.

The present device is furthermore particularly an improvement over thedisclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,146, in providing parts, all of whichare disposable and none of which need be repeatedly sterilized. It maybe noted that the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,146 describes a ballor spherical member 46 which unlike the spherical piston member of thepresent invention is not deformed when received in a straw and is notfurther deformed during use. Also said ball does not act as a piston todrive semen out of the tube in which it is received but serves only as aseal after semen introduction is accomplished by other means.

SUMMARY Improved artificial insemination apparatus comprises a straw, asheath tube and a push rod or pusher member. The straw is a tubularmember of about 2 to 4 m1]- limeters outside diameter having a wallthickness of about 0.005 to 0.010 inch, about 0.007 inch beingpreferable. The straw is preferably extruded as a continuous tubularmember and is cut automatically into preselected lengths which may be onthe order of five centimeters or 6 centimeters. A spherical pistonmember of polymeric elastomeric material such as synthetic rubber havinga diameter larger than the outside diameter of the straw is theninserted in one end of each straw, the spherical member being deformedinto a cyclindrical member with ends which may be described as convex oras arcuately curvedly convexedly outwardly extending.

The straws are then filled with semen using a filling machine which isnot part of the present invention, the end through which each is tilledbeing the end opposite that in which the piston member is inserted. Eachtube is then heat sealed with the same machine in the manner more fullydescribed hereinafter. To identify the contents of each straw, the strawmay be printed prior to filling or may be printed after filling or maybe printed in the same machine in which filling is accomplished.

The straws then are generally inserted in or attached to a cane whichmay hold a preselected number of straws such as 4, 5 or 6, the preciseform of the cane not being part of the present invention and they areimmersed in a cooling fluid such as liquid nitrogen in accordance withwell established practice to accomplish refrigeration at a preselectedrate and to maintain a desired cryogenic refrigeration temperature.

When it is desired to use a straw to inseminate an animal, a cane iswithdrawn from storage, a straw is removed therefrom and the straw isheated in accordance with a preselected regimen. It has been common toheat straws in a pocket of the wearersapparel or in someother imprecisemanner. It has been found how ever that a preselected heating regimen ispreferable and such preselected regimen may be accomplished by meanswhich are not part of the present invention.

The heat sealed end of the straw is then cut off. This operation may beaccomplished with particular suitability with apparatus to be describedin a co-pending application which has the object of making the cut on aplane normal to the axis of the straw and cutting off a preciselypreselected amount of the end of the straw sufficient to remove all ofthe heat sealed closure member but otherwise having the object ofremoving as little of the remainder of the straw as possible in order toprevent removal of a significant portion of the contents.

The straw may then be inserted in a sheath tube more fully describedhereinafter and a disposable push rod of plastic material may beinserted. The assembly may then be inserted in an animal to beimpregnated and the push rod operated to drive the piston through thestraw expelling its contents through the open end of the straw andthence through the exit orifice of the sheath tube. The piston member ofthe invention may be driven out of the straw and partially extrudedthrough the exit orifice of the sheath tube in order to insure removalfrom the interior of both the straw and the sheath tube of the maximumamount of the semen.

Particular advantages of the apparatus of this invention include:leakage of the contents of straws past piston members which have beenobserved with straws in All the apparatus utilized in accomplishinginsemination of an animal is disposable so that no re-sterilization(with attendant dangers of infection due to inadequate sterilization) isneeded.

Another advantage is that the straw of the invention may be subjected tosomewhat extreme mechanical abuse without causing loss of the contents:a pressure of 200 pounds per square inch may be exerted, it has beenfound, by the piston on the contents of the straw without causingleakage of the contents through the heat sealed end of the straw andwithout causing leakage of the contents past the piston and withoutcausing rupture of the walls of the straw. Although such resistance to200 psi is believed to be achieved in substantially every straw made, itis considered that resistance to 50 psi is sufficient to provide thedesired high quality and high resistance to damage and leakage. Suchpressure is obtained simply by operation of the push rod or pushermember hereinafter described against the piston without prior removal ofthe heat sealed closure at the other end of the straw.

OBJECTS It is therefore an object of the invention to provide animproved artificial insemination apparatus.

Another object is such an apparatus wherein leakage of the contents ofthe straw past the piston in the straw is eliminated.

Another object is such apparatus wherein all parts used in accomplishinginsemination of an animal are disposable and need not be re-sterilized.

Another object is such apparatus wherein all parts used in inseminationof an animal are relatively low in cost.

Another object is such apparatus which is more reliable, that is,provides highest ratio of successful inseminations to inseminationattempts by reducing or eliminating breakage, eliminating leakage pastthe piston member and insuring more consistent use of a maximumproportion of the contents of each straw.

Other objects will become apparent from the drawings and from thefollowing detailed description in which it is intended to illustrate theapplicability of the invention without thereby limiting its scope toless than that of all equivalents which will be apparent to one skilledin the art.

DRAWINGS In the drawings like reference numerals refer to like partsand:

FIG. I is a side elevation showing a first step in providing a filledstraw;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on lines 2-2 in FIG. 3 showing afilled and heat sealed straw with piston member inserted;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 4 taken fromthe heat sealed end;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional elevation showing a first step inutilization of a filled straw;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional elevation showing another step inutilization of a filled straw;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional elevation showing a further step inutilization of a filled straw and showing the changed configuration ofthe piston member during such step;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional elevation showing another change inconfiguration of the piston member;

FIG. 8 is an elevation of the piston member of FIGS. 1, 2 and 4-7 priorto insertion in a straw;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the piston member of FIG. 8 taken onlines 9-9 in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a side elevation of the piston member of FIGS. 8 and 9 afterbeing received in a straw;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken on lines lll1 in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to the view of FIG. 10of the piston member of FIGS. 8, 9, 10 and 11 after application of apush rod member to the right end thereof;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the piston of FIGS. 8-12, beingtaken in a manner corresponding to that indicated by lines 13-13 in FIG.12;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged cross-sectional fragmentary view showing theconfiguration of the piston shown in FIG; 7;

FIG. 15 is a side elevation of a modification of the pusher member ofFIGS. 5, 6 and 7; and

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view showing the pusher of FIG. 15 receivedin a sheath tube.

DESCRIPTION Referring now to FIG. 1, straw 20 may have spherical pistonmember 21 inserted thereinto as indicated by arrow 23 and may then befilled with semen-containing liquid as indicated by arrow 24 to providefluid within straw 20 as shown at 25 in FIG. 2. After piston member 21is inserted into straw 20 as indicated by arrow 23 it is distorted ordeformed so that it has the configuration shown at 21' in FIGS. 2, 4, 5,10 and 11. Its configuration as shown in FIG. 1 is also shown in FIGS. 8and 9.

As shown in FIG. 2, the end 'of straw 20 which is most remote frompiston member 21' is heat sealed as indicated at 26. Preferably the heatsealing is carried out in such manner that a displaced portion of thewall of straw 20 indicated at 27 is brought into contact with anundisplaced portion of the wall of straw 20 indicated at 28 and thedisplaced portion 27 is heat sealed at 29 to undisplaced portion 28 toprovide heat sealed closure 26.

Straw 20 is preferably made of plastic, that is, polymeric syntheticresinous material. Suitable materials include polystyrene, high densitypolyethylene, polypropylene and ABS. The material of the straw ispreferably relatively rigid, the term relatively in this instance beingused with respect to the rigidity of piston member 21. Thus, as anexample only, a suitable polymeric material for the tube of straw 20 mayhave a Rockwell hardness on the M scale of 19 and on the R scale of andmay have a flextural strength of 9,300 psi determined by A. S. T. M.method D-790 and an elongation of These values are merely illustrativesince for example a straw might have a tensile strength as low as 5,000psi or as high as 100,000 psi and be quite suitable.

A suitable material for piston 21 is a thermoplastic rubber obtained bycopolymerizing styrene and intadiene often referred to as Buna S rubber.Any one of a large number of synthetic rubbers including silicones maysuitably be used and it is possible that a natural rubber might possiblybe used if it retains its resiliency at liquid nitrogen temperatures. Inan exemplary instance, a piston is suitable if it has a Shore dyrometeron the A scale of 45 and a tensile strength of 600 to 700 psi.Durometers within the range of to 60 may be suitable, it being merelycritical to the invention that the piston be made of resilient andelastomeric polymeric material which retains its effectiveness at liquidnitrogen pressures and which together with the material of the straw andthe wall thickness of the straw and the diameter of the piston meet therequirement that when the piston member is inserted within the straw thepiston member is appreciably deformed and the straw is substantially notdeformed at all. Conceivably the straw may expand outward slightlysomewhat in the area in which the piston is received therewithin, suchslight amount being for example on the order of 1/10 of l/l000 of aninch but in actual fact no deformation of the straw has been measurable.The deformation of the piston member when inserted in the straw shouldbe appreciable if not considerable and for this purpose it has beenfound suitable to make this piston member with a diameter of on theorder of 0.005 to 0.015 of an inch greater than the internal diameter ofthe straw. The dimensions of the straw for the purposes of the presentinvention are not substantially critical. Thus it might be on the orderof 2 to 4 millimeters in diameter, 4 to 7 centimeters in length and mayhave a wall thickness of 0.005 to 0.010 of an inch, though for otherpurposes a length of 5 to 6 centimeters and a diameter of about 3centimeters are preferable and a wall thickness on the order of about0.007 inch has been found suitable.

The ends of piston member as shown in 21 extend curvedly arcuatelyconvexedly outwardly, protruding as indicated at 22. The ends as shownat 22 may be referred to as convex or extending convexedly. The termsconvex and convexedly as used hereinafter in the description and theclaims are to be understood to refer to such arcuately curvedlyconvexedly outwardly extending ends.

As shown in FIG. 4, sealed closure end 26 may be severed and removed asindicated at 26' from straw 20 suitable cutting members 30 pushedtogether as indicated by arrows 31. The remaining portion of the strawmay be referred to as an open-ended straw and may be inserted asindicated at 20' into sheath tube 32. Sheath tube 32 is a tubular memberhaving gradual reduction in its internal lateral dimension near one endas indicated at 33 and terminating in a terminal orifice 34 which issmaller in lateral dimension than the internal lateral dimension of thesheath tube as indicated at 35 and smaller than the internal diameter ofthe straw. The open end of the straw 20 may be received against theinternal surface of the converging walls 33 of sheath tube 32 asindicated at 36 and the contents of the straw may exude as indicated at37. Sheath tube 32 may be provided with an outwardly extending orprotruding portion or flange 38 at the end opposite terminal orifice 34.A push rod or pusher member 40, which may have a convex end at 41 and awidened portion or head at 42 may then be inserted in sheath tube 32 andin straw 20' so that end 41 is adjacent piston member 21.

As shown in FIGS. 6, l2 and 13, pusher member may be forced by theoperator in the direction indicated by arrow 43 for example by engagingflange 38 with fingers and head 42 with the thumb. The convex end 41 ofpusher member 40 engages one end of piston member 21 and forces said endat 41 into a concave shape conforming to the convex shape of end 41 andthe convexness of end 22' may then be greater than the convexness ofends 22, the piston member in this configuration being indicated as 21".The contents of straw 20 are thus forced outwardly through terminalorifice 34 as indicated at 45.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 14, pusher member or push rod 40 may be operatedas indicated by arrow 43 until piston member 20 is partially extrudedthrough terminal orifice 34 as indicated at 21, to remove from theinteriors of straw 20' and sheath tube 32 a maximum amount of liquid 25.

In FIG. 15 there is shown a modification of pusher member 40 or push rod40 wherein a major portion is made sinuous as shown at 40'. When it isinserted in a sheath tube member 32 as shown in FIG. 16 the sinuosity isreduced and peaks of waves of rod 40 contact the interior wall of sheathtube 32 at the points indicated as 50. Head 42 may have a differentconfiguration than shown at 42 in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7.

When tube 32 is held vertically, with orifice 34 uppermost, thefrictional engagement of rod 40' with the interior walls of sheath tube32 at points 50 prevents rod 40 from dropping downwardly and out of tube32.

Sheath tube 32 and pusher 40 are preferably made of plastic such aspolypropylene or high density polyethylene.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that equivalents may beutilized.

Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in other specificforms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof,and accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims ratherthan to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of theinvention.

It is claimed:

1. A straw assembly for the artificial insemination of animals, saidstraw assembly comprising the combination of:

a straw consisting of a tubular member of polymeric synthetic resinousmaterial,

said polymeric synthetic resinous material being heat scalable,

said straw filled with semen-containing fluid,

said straw heat sealed at one end to provide a heat sealed closure,

said heat sealed closure being sealed to withstand internal liquidpressure applied thereto by the liquid within the straw of 50 pounds persquare inch,

said polymeric synthetic resinous material being relatively rigid,

said walls being of sufficient thickness and said polymeric syntheticresinous material of sufficient rigidity so that said straw withstandsan internal liquid pressure of 50 psi without leakage,

a piston member received in said straw,

said piston member disposed toward the opposite end of the straw fromsaid heat sealed closure,

said piston member being substantially spherical when not received insaid straw,

said piston member being of polymeric elastomeric material, said pistonmember being relatively resilient with respect to the rigidity of saidwallsof said straw,

said piston member deformed as received in said straw into asubstantially cylindrical member having convexedly extending ends,

said piston member disposed to exert at least 50 pounds per square inchpressure on the contents of said straw when urged inwardly into saidstraw with a pusher member, without leakage of said contents past saidpiston member.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said heat sealed closure ischaracterized by a displaced portion and an undisplaced portion of thewall of said straw, said displaced portion displaced into contact withsaid undisplaced portion and heat sealed thereto.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein a cross-sectional through said heatsealed closure taken on a plane normal to the axis of said straw isarcua te in form.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein said cross-section is substantiallysemi-circular in form.

5. The combination of the device of claim 1 with a sheath tube andpusher member wherein:

said sheath tube is a tubular member having its internal and externaldimensions gradually reduced at one end to provide a terminal orifice atsaid end, said orifice having an internal lateral dimension smaller thanthe internal lateral dimension of said straw,

said sheath tube disposed to receive said straw after removal of saidheat sealed closure from said straw to provide an open end of saidstraw,

said gradually reduced portion of said sheath tube adapted to receivesaid open end abutted there- 8 against,

said pusher member having convexedly extending end to be received insaid straw with said convexedly extending portion received against saidpiston member.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein said piston member is deformed by saidpusher member to provide said piston member with a shape being that of acylindrical member disposed in said straw with one end disposed towardthe interior of said straw and one end disposed toward the exterior ofsaid straw and in contact with said pusher member, said end disposedtoward the interior of said straw convexedly extending toward theinterior of said straw and the other end which is in contact with saidpusher member being concave and conforming to the convexedly extendingend of said pusher member.

7. The article of claim 5 wherein said pusher member is received in saidstraw with said convexedly extending end of said pusher rod receivedagainst said piston member and said piston member extruded by pressureof said pusher member out of said open end of said straw and partiallythrough said orifice of said sheath tube whereby to expel a maximumproportion of the contents of said straw outwardly from said straw andfrom the end of said sheath tube member adjacent the open end of saidstraw.

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFIQE @E'HFIQATE F EC'HGN Patent No. 3, 877, 430Dated April 15, 1975 Inventor(s) Horst K, I Wieder It is certified thaterror appears in the above-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 5, line 40, after "straw 20" insert by Column 7, line 11, change"cross-sectional" to crosssection an m this fif ay 0? August1975 [SEAL]Arrest:

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN A-HIP H'HX Off if" ('vmmissimwr 0]Parents and Trademarks

1. A straw assembly for the artificial insemination of animals, saidstraw assembly comprising the combination of: a straw consisting of atubular member of polymeric synthetic resinoUs material, said polymericsynthetic resinous material being heat sealable, said straw filled withsemen-containing fluid, said straw heat sealed at one end to provide aheat sealed closure, said heat sealed closure being sealed to withstandinternal liquid pressure applied thereto by the liquid within the strawof 50 pounds per square inch, said polymeric synthetic resinous materialbeing relatively rigid, said walls being of sufficient thickness andsaid polymeric synthetic resinous material of sufficient rigidity sothat said straw withstands an internal liquid pressure of 50 psi withoutleakage, a piston member received in said straw, said piston memberdisposed toward the opposite end of the straw from said heat sealedclosure, said piston member being substantially spherical when notreceived in said straw, said piston member being of polymericelastomeric material, said piston member being relatively resilient withrespect to the rigidity of said walls of said straw, said piston memberdeformed as received in said straw into a substantially cylindricalmember having convexedly extending ends, said piston member disposed toexert at least 50 pounds per square inch pressure on the contents ofsaid straw when urged inwardly into said straw with a pusher member,without leakage of said contents past said piston member.
 2. The deviceof claim 1 wherein said heat sealed closure is characterized by adisplaced portion and an undisplaced portion of the wall of said straw,said displaced portion displaced into contact with said undisplacedportion and heat sealed thereto.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein across-sectional through said heat sealed closure taken on a plane normalto the axis of said straw is arcuate in form.
 4. The device of claim 3wherein said cross-section is substantially semi-circular in form. 5.The combination of the device of claim 1 with a sheath tube and pushermember wherein: said sheath tube is a tubular member having its internaland external dimensions gradually reduced at one end to provide aterminal orifice at said end, said orifice having an internal lateraldimension smaller than the internal lateral dimension of said straw,said sheath tube disposed to receive said straw after removal of saidheat sealed closure from said straw to provide an open end of saidstraw, said gradually reduced portion of said sheath tube adapted toreceive said open end abutted thereagainst, said pusher member havingconvexedly extending end to be received in said straw with saidconvexedly extending portion received against said piston member.
 6. Thedevice of claim 5 wherein said piston member is deformed by said pushermember to provide said piston member with a shape being that of acylindrical member disposed in said straw with one end disposed towardthe interior of said straw and one end disposed toward the exterior ofsaid straw and in contact with said pusher member, said end disposedtoward the interior of said straw convexedly extending toward theinterior of said straw and the other end which is in contact with saidpusher member being concave and conforming to the convexedly extendingend of said pusher member.
 7. The article of claim 5 wherein said pushermember is received in said straw with said convexedly extending end ofsaid pusher rod received against said piston member and said pistonmember extruded by pressure of said pusher member out of said open endof said straw and partially through said orifice of said sheath tubewhereby to expel a maximum proportion of the contents of said strawoutwardly from said straw and from the end of said sheath tube memberadjacent the open end of said straw.